OLYMPIA, Wash.—Washington State has passed legislation that acknowledges and defends the legal standing of digital records related to distributed ledgers like blockchains.
This new bill replaces senate bill 5638 and the Washington State legislature had its first reading January 25, 2019. This new legislation replaces senate bill 5638, Coin Trust reported.
The bill was taken for studying by the Washington State legislature on January 25. The new bill, ratified with a 96-1 vote, will take effect in July 2019.
The new legislation has a provision preventing discrimination against digital records that were a key component of a distributed ledger: “An electronic record may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is generated, communicated, received, or stored using distributed ledger technology,” the bill states.
Specific Concepts
The legislation also offered information on specific concepts like ‘what blockchain is’ and ‘how a distributed ledger network functions.’
This was not the first time states establish clear, cordial blockchain and cryptocurrencies regulations, noted Coin Trust.